The Rosary
by CelticX
Summary: A story that I just had to get out of my system.  More inside.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own MSGM or the characters. All such honors belong to Oyuki Konno.

* * *

The very first time she had spoken to Sachiko Ogasawara it had been in front of the statue of Maria-sama. Sachiko-sama had stopped her that warm morning in early fall to adjust the collar and scarf of her uniform. Since that morning, and for the past ten months, she had pretty much lived and breathed "Sachiko". Over that period there had been any number of times she had believed that she was so far beneath her onee-sama, or that her onee-sama wanted nothing to do with her, that it would have been better if she had never been stopped that morning.

Now, after everything that they had been through together, after Sachiko had finally told her that she loved her, after Yumi had finally told her onee-sama how much she loved her in return, Yumi had had the temerity to believe that there might have been some kind of future for the two.

Those hopes had been thoroughly destroyed the previous evening when Sachiko had informed her that she had every intention of going through with the sham of a marriage to Suguru Kashiwagi, all for the sake of her family. She believed that the debt that she owed to her family was so much more than she could ever repay that it was only logical and right that she do as they bid her and marry a man that she not only does not love, but who is incapable of loving her in return as a husband should.

It did not matter that Suguru was gay. It did not matter that Sachiko did not love him nor did he love her. It did not matter that it was Yumi that Sachiko loved and that Yumi loved her in return. None of it mattered when balanced on the scales of her duty to her family. No matter how much Yumi argued with her, her position was firm and she would not be swayed. Even with tears in her eyes, Sachiko would not turn her back on what she believed to be her "solemn duty".

Sachiko had left her last night and made her own way home, leaving Yumi crumpled at the feet of Maria-sama, tears in her eyes and her heart breaking. It had been almost an hour before she had finally made her way to the bus stop and to her home. She had gone straight to her room and flopped on her bed and cried herself to sleep without even changing her clothes.

When she awoke the next morning, it was with a firm determination to have it out with her onee-sama one last time, and she had called Sachiko early and requested that she meet her at the statue of Maria-sama.

As Yumi walked down the cobbled path towards where she could see her onee-sama waiting for her she almost lost her nerve, but one look at the soft and loving eyes of her grande soeur was enough to strengthen her resolve for one last attempt.

"Good day Yumi," Sachiko called gently to her as she approached.

"Good day onee-sama, I hope the morning finds you well," Yumi replied.

"Of course, it is such a wonderful day," Sachiko replied as a proper lady should. It was exactly what Yumi expected from her onee-sama – and it was the final nail in the coffin.

"Onee-sama, I would like to ask you one last time: Will you consider dissolving your engagement and eventual marriage to Suguru Kashiwagi-san and be with me instead?"

"Yumi, I thought we had finished this discussion last night," Sachiko replied with a sigh of exasperation, "of course I could never consider such a course of action. As much as I would wish otherwise, it is simply not possible for me to go against the wishes and desires of my family."

Yumi nodded her understanding. "I had to give you one last chance onee-sama," she said, "it was the only right and proper thing to do."

It had been in front of the statue of Maria-sama that Sachiko had first spoken to Yumi. It was, therefore, the only place where she could do this. Yumi placed her book bag on the ground beside her. She then raised her hands to the collar of her uniform and reached inside and grasped the weight that had hung around her neck for almost ten months. She brought forth the rosary that Sachiko had given to her the evening of the school festival the previous year, again right here in front of this very statue, and stepped forward. She reached out and grasped the hand of her grande soeur for the last time and placed the rosary in her suddenly shaking palm.

She looked up into those sapphire eyes that had just moments before been filled with love and saw that they were now filled with confusion, doubt, pain, and fear. Sachiko's mouth hung open in a very un-ladylike manner and Yumi could not tell whether the girl was breathing or not. Nor did it really matter to her.

"I know you well enough Sachiko-sama to know that you would want to know why," Yumi informed her as she stepped back and reclaimed the handle of her book bag and picked it up. "I honestly cannot give you an answer that you would find satisfactory except to reiterate the same things I said to you almost a year ago. No matter how much I admire you, no matter how much I have come to love you, no matter how much joy you have given me, I have my own pride and that pride will not allow me to take a back seat to anyone else. Certainly not Kashiwagi-san.

"You may say that I am first in your heart, but that is a cold and lonely place and I don't want to live there. I can't. I need to live inside the warm and loving heart of someone that sees me as the most important person in her life, just like I saw you up until last night. You are and have been my most important person, but that has to change. My pride and my heart cannot accept anything else.

"I'm very sorry Sachiko-sama, but please know that I wish you well in your life and in your marriage." Yumi bowed low, turned, and headed slowly down the cobbled pathway toward her classroom leaving Sachiko standing there with tears in her eyes and a rosary dangling from her suddenly nerveless fingers.

-oo-

As usual, the news that Yumi had returned Sachiko's rosary to her was all over the school by lunchtime. Instead of picking up her book bag and heading to the Rose Mansion, a place she would never step foot in again, she took out her lunch and headed towards the back of the building to the stoop outside the backdoor where she had often eaten lunch with Shimako. There in the shade of the ginkgoes and the one lonely cherry tree she ate her lunch in peace.

She had whispered the news to Yoshino as soon as she had arrived in the classroom that morning and had immediately had to put her hand over the excitable girl's mouth to keep her from screaming. She promised to tell her everything, but not until after classes were over and the cleaning duties had been performed. By that time she expected to be accosted by Mami-san of the _Lillian Kawaraban_ and she would only have to tell the story once. She knew Mami well enough to know that she would not print the entire tale, only that she and Sachiko had jointly decided to part ways; that there were irreconcilable differences between the two. Sachiko would certainly agree to that part of the story. It was, after all, the truth. Anything to be said after that was up to Sachiko-sama.

She waited until the second bell was just about to ring to head back to her classroom. It was more important for her not to run into anyone than it was for her to be a minute or two late for class. The rest of the day passed quietly. She was receiving frequent glances from her fellow classmates throughout the day, but she knew them all and they had come to love her enough that they could tell that she was in pain and not prepared to talk about it. She put off anyone from outside classes that tried to talk to her at the afternoon break and almost made it through her cleaning before Yoshino and Mami showed up at the classroom door having quickly finished their own duties.

The other girls in the class took pity on her and allowed her to leave early. She thanked them and picked up her book bag and led her two friends back to the back of the building where she had eaten her lunch. She walked over and looked up at the spreading branches and green leaves of the ancient cherry tree. Yoshino and Mami followed her in silence, although she could tell that Yoshino at least was about to explode.

Yumi turned and sat at the base of the cherry tree. The other girls took their cue and sat as well. Neither girl said a word, allowing their dear friend to find her own words in her own time. When Yumi finally started speaking, she started her tale from the first time she had ever heard Sachiko's voice. She told them of the time she had met Suguru Kashiwagi at the rehearsals for last year's production of _Cinderella_. She told them what Sachiko had privately told her in the greenhouse regarding her arranged marriage to the boy she had learned was gay and would never be able to lover her as she deserved. She told them of all of the trials and tribulations that the two had gone through over the next nine months, and she told them how she had come to love Sachiko not only as a soeur, but as a woman. She told them of Sachiko's recent confession of her own feelings for Yumi just after her grandmother had died . . . and she told them of the discussions the two had had just the previous evening and again this morning.

She reminded Mami that she could not print any of what she had just told them, only that the two had come to a mutual decision to part ways. With tears in her eyes, despite how angry she was with the Rosa Chinensis, Mami agreed that the whole story would stay just between Yumi and her friends and had no need to be broadcast throughout the school. She was not like her own grande soeur, Minako Tsukiyama, who would publish any gossip that found its way to her ear, often without verifying its truthfulness. Mami had come to love Yumi enough as a friend that she would never do something like that to her.

Yoshino was also appalled at Sachiko's decision, but had learned enough over the time she had known the prim and proper Rosa Chinensis that no amount of yelling would make any difference in the world. All she could do was pace and stomp her feet at the stupidity of the girl that was supposed to be the head of the Yamayurikai. She was angry enough that she wondered if she could even be in Sachiko's presence that afternoon at the upcoming meeting in the Rose Mansion. She gave serious thought to simply heading home with Yumi rather than attending the meeting, but Yumi asked her to please go to the Rose Mansion and tell her side of the story to the other girls. She would certainly be available to them after today if they wanted to talk to her. They were, after all, still her dear friends. She just could no longer be a member of the Yamayurikai or Sachiko's soeur.

Yoshino understood and promised to tell them after Sachiko had left for the day. She also promised to let her know whatever Sachiko said regarding Yumi's absence, but Yumi waved it off saying that she really didn't care to hear it. Yoshino nodded and the three girls hugged each other and went their separate ways, with Yoshino heading to the meeting and Mami heading to the Newspaper clubroom to type up Yumi's side of the story before she confronted Sachiko and asked for her own side.

Yumi picked up her bag and headed towards the front gate of the Academy. Although she saw many students along the way, none were callous enough to stop her and demand an explanation. It seemed they took one look at her face and decide to leave her alone. She stopped in front of the statue of Maria-sama and for once simply looked at the stone face of the mother of Jesus Christ. She couldn't bring herself to pray to the Madonna that day, maybe not for a long time, so she just turned and made her way through the gate, to the bus stop, and onto the bus that would take her home.

She had not shed one single tear the entire day, nor could she remember having smiled. She idly wondered when, or if, she would be able to feel again.

-oo-

By the time Youko heard the news, Sei was already on her way in her yellow Beetle to pick her up. Sei had burned her ear through the phone with the language she used to describe Sachiko's stupidity. Youko couldn't blame her.

The two former Roses pulled up in front of Yumi's house just before eight o'clock that evening. Youko had convinced the rest of the Yamayurikai to hold off and wait until they had had a chance to talk to Yumi directly. The poor girl didn't need a bunch of pissed off roses traipsing into her house nor did her parents. Yuichiro and Miki were good folks. They had raised a bright, gentle, and loving daughter that any parent would have been proud of.

Youko pressed the button on the intercom next to the gate in the low brick fence that fronted the house. She recognized Yuuki's voice and announced herself and Sei along with a request to have a few minutes of time to speak with Yumi. She could hear Yuuki and Yumi whispering in the background and then the front door opened and Yumi came out. She walked to the gate and opened it, but instead of allowing the two former Roses to enter she stepped out and invited them to walk with her.

"I don't know what you want of me Youko-sama, Sei-sama," Yumi said as they walked towards the children's park at the end of the street, "If you've heard the whole story then I have nothing else to say on the matter."

"That's cold Yumi," Sei commented quietly.

"I'm sorry Sei-sama, but I have to protect myself," Yumi sighed, "I've fought and argued until I was blue in the face, and it made no impression on her. She refused to change her mind. I gave her one last opportunity this morning and she turned me down flat. She is determined to do as her parents tell her and marry Kashiwagi-san. I had no other option than to do what I have done."

"I didn't come here to try to get you to change your mind Yumi-chan," Youko said as they headed towards the swing set and Yumi sat down, rocking back and forth slowly as two older girls stood looking down at her.

"Whaaa?" Sei asked, flabbergasted that Youko would not be meddling in the affair as was her usual want.

"If what Yumi-chan says is true then I can't fault her for returning Sachiko's rosary, Sei," she explained quietly, looking into Sei's eyes and trying to get the blonde haired girl to understand. "Sachiko is knowingly and purposefully throwing away Yumi's love without any regard whatsoever. You of all people should know exactly how Yumi is feeling right now," she whispered.

"Ah, shit," the former Rosa Gigantea cursed, running her hands through her hair and shifting her weight from foot to foot, "I was just thinking how we could try to get them back together. I'm sorry Yumi-chan. I wasn't thinking straight."

"It's alright Sei-sama," Yumi said with a tiny smile, her first of the day, "I know you mean well. You always do. It's just that there is nothing that you can do now. Sachiko-san made her choice."

"You know that the Yamayurikai still needs you Yumi-chan. There is no one else that can give them what you can," Youko tried to appeal to the younger girl.

"Sachiko will find another petite soeur soon enough," Yumi replied. She didn't have to add _to replace me_. It didn't need to be spoken out loud. "Nor do I have any plans to sever my ties to the other girls. They are my friends and I would hope to keep it that way. And I have no problems lending them a hand outside the boundaries of the council, but I will never step foot inside the Rose Mansion again. It holds too many painful memories for me."

"Fuck, fuck, fuuuuck," Sei screamed into the night, unable to contain herself any longer. "I just can't believe that stupid bitch is going to throw away her one chance at happiness. I just can't understand the way these girl's think. How _can_ she believe that that misbegotten family of hers is more important than her own life?" She kicked a rock that went flying through the grass until it smacked into the bole of a tree with a loud crack. Yumi cringed from the taller girl's seething anger. She didn't want to be around the next time Sei met up with Sachiko.

"More importantly, Yumi," Youko went on quietly after glaring at her friend, "is there anything we can do for you? You know that we will always be there for you whenever you need anything. Despite the gross stupidity of my petite soeur, I still consider you my little sister, rosary or not." Sei nodded her head emphatically in agreement with Youko's sentiments.

A few tears started to pool in the corners or Yumi's eyes at this obviously sincere declaration by two people she both trusted and respected. She knew that the other girls in her class would stand by her, but to have the former Rose's say they would remain friends with her; it was more than her overwrought emotions could take. The tears started flowing and wouldn't stop. Youko knelt down and gathered her into her arms and that was all it took. Yumi threw herself into Youko's embrace and finally broke down, releasing all of the pent up emotions that she had kept bottled up inside since that morning. Sei held her from her other side and the two supported the pigtailed girl as horrendous sobs wracked Yumi's body and she howled out her pain. The young girl that, until that morning, had been the Rosa Chinensis en Bouton wailed and shrieked into Youko's breast. Youko and Sei only held her tighter and whispered calming words of love.

They stayed that way for a good while until Yumi finally started to hiccup as the tears began to slow and the sobs to subside.

"Yumi," Youko whispered, "you will always be my little sister. Don't you ever forget that."

"Mine too," Sei echoed. "Whatever you need, whenever you need it, I will be there for you Yumi-chan. I promise."

"Thank you. Thank you both so very much. I don't know what I would do without my friends," Yumi said while wiping her eyes. They helped her to stand and she went up on tiptoe to give each of them a kiss on the cheek. "I love you all so much."

"And we love you Yumi-chan," Sei said, grabbing her hand, lacing her fingers with her own.

Youko took her other hand and the three started their walk back towards Yumi's house.

"Try to get a good night's sleep Yumi-chan," Youko advised as they stood once again before the Fukuzawa home, "I won't bother trying to tell you it that will all be better in the morning, but I can tell you that you _will_ get through this. If Sei can than anyone can," she giggled while Sei cuffed her shoulder.

"Watch it girlie. I know where you live."

"Then take me home," she replied.

The three girls hugged once more and promised to talk again soon. Then the two former Roses watched Yumi until her door closed.

"Pick me up again tomorrow at two o'clock Sei," Youko told the taller girl as they got into the car and buckled up. "There is something I have to do."

Sei turned and looked at her dearest friend in the entire world and was frightened by what she saw on those darkened features. "Don't do anything you will regret later, Youko," she cautioned the black haired beauty that _never_ did anything on impulse.

"I won't," Youko replied in a cold voice that sent a shiver of fear down Sei's spine.

-oo-

At three o'clock the next afternoon Sei and Youko entered the second floor meeting room of the Rose Mansion interrupting the meeting that was about to begin.

"Onee-sama," came from two different voices as both Shimako and Sachiko voiced their surprise at the unexpected visit. When Shimako saw the look in Sei's eyes she cringed in her seat. Sei went to her and grabbed her hand along with Noriko's and pulled them out of their seats.

"Come on ladies, we need to give these two a few minutes alone," she explained as Youko stood with her arms folded across her chest staring at her petite soeur. "You too," Sei said as she looked at Rei and Yoshino. "Let's go get some fresh air."

Yoshino looked like she wanted to stay and watch the fireworks but Rei quickly grabbed her arm and shook her head. The two yellow roses left their seats and followed Sei out the door leaving Sachiko and Youko alone.

"What is this all about onee-sama," Sachiko asked her grande soeur, a look of confusion in her eyes as she took in the older girl's body language and angry disposition.

Youko saw what she wanted and moved towards the raven haired beauty that was the idol of Lillian Girl's Academy. She reached out her right hand and gently touched the rosary that she could just see hanging around Sachiko's neck. The brilliant piece of jewelry shone as she raised it into the afternoon light flowing through the meeting room windows.

"I would never have believed that you could be so stupid and heartless," she said softly to her petite soeur. "I thought I taught you better. Obviously I was wrong."

Sachiko's eyes widened in fear as she saw the look in those of her grande soeur.

"I believe that you have something of mine," Youko said with regret as she raised her other hand and gently reclaimed from the younger girl's pale neck the rosary that she had given to Sachiko over two years ago.

"Onee-sama?" Sachiko desperately pleaded.

"Not anymore Sachiko-san," Youko replied as she turned and walked to the door. She placed a hand on the doorknob and stopped, looking back one last time at the young, beautiful, and cowardly girl that had once been her dearly beloved petite soeur as the girl with the sapphire eyes finally started to cry. "Not anymore," she whispered to herself.

She opened the door and walked out, closing it softly until she heard the snick of the latch. She walked slowly down the stairs, for once thankful for their loud creaking. It helped to drown out the crying from the room above. When Youko got to the front door she opened it and turned around one last time to take a look at the place she had spent so much of her high school life. Like Yumi, she didn't know if she would ever be able to set foot inside the building again.

Shaking her head she quietly closed the door behind her and went looking for Sei and the others.

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A/N: I promise, Chapter 2 will be posted in a couple of days. No flames please, but comments are always welcome.

Thanks again for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Many thanks to everyone that commented on this story. I tried to make sure that all of your comments were resolved in this chapter. If I missed yours I apologize. I'm also glad I am not the only one that thought Chapter 1 was a bit "heavy". I did warn you that I was not feeling my best when I wrote it.

BTW, I love it how everyone is writing new stories or updating their old ones. Keep going folks. I need more reading material. ;P

And now, the conclusion to _The Rosary._

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Youko caught up with Sei and the others as they gathered at the old greenhouse that had been so important to Yumi and Sachiko.

"How did it go?" Sei asked her as she approached the group.

"About as you would have expected," she replied cryptically.

"What's this all about Youko-sama," Rei asked as she tried to constrain her petite soeur.

"Can I assume you have all heard the full story behind Yumi's return of Sachiko's rosary?" she asked the current members of the Yamayurikai. At the unanimous nodding of heads she continued. "Then before I go any further I need each of you to answer one question for yourselves. It's a very simple question but with an extremely difficult answer. Do you understand?" More nods all around.

"How much do you love Yumi? Are you willing to go to the absolute limit to see her and Sachiko together again? No matter what? Because," she finished while holding out for all to see the rosary she had just taken off of her petite soeur, "obviously I am."

There were gasps around the circle as they realized what she had done. She had effectively disowned her own petite soeur.

"Y-Youko-sama, what have you done?" Shimako asked in a tiny voice.

"Hopefully I have just shaken Sachiko to her core," Youko explained. "She needs to learn that the decisions she makes don't only affect her and that those decisions can sometimes have severe and unexpected repercussions. She needs to learn that there are others in her life that are just as important to her as her precious family; some even _more_ important than her family. At least more important than her 'duty' to those selfish, egotistical men she calls her father and grandfather."

"B-but to take back your rosary . . . ," Shimako shuddered.

"Can you think of a better way to crack that diamond hard Ogasawara veneer? Would anything else have gotten through that thick skull of hers?" Sei asked.

"You knew about this onee-sama?" Shimako asked the tall blonde.

"Youko told me what her plan was yesterday as we drove home from Yumi's. She shocked the hell out of me when she told Yumi that we hadn't gone to see her to try to change her mind. I mean, after hearing everything Yumi had to say I had to agree with her that that she had no choice but to return Sachiko's rosary. Plus Youko reminded me that . . . well, Shimako, let's just say that I've been in her position before . . . it-it's something that I would never wish on anyone," she finished softly.

"Onee-sama," Shimako said quietly as she went to her grande soeur and took her in her arms.

Yoshino was still quivering with anger and looking like she was ready to explode. "You lied to Yumi?"

"Yoshino-chan, if you know anything at all about me you know that I never lie," Youko scolded the girl with the long brown braids. "I agreed with Yumi regarding her actions. However, I never once told her that I would not do everything in my power to get the two of them back together."

"I'm sorry, Youko-sama," Yoshino said, bowing her head in sorrow, "It's just that, ever since Yumi-san told me everything, I feel that I need to protect her. She doesn't deserve what has happened. She loves Sachiko-sama so much, but her heart . . ." Yoshino tried to stifle a sob, "if you could have seen her in class today . . . she . . . she just wasn't there. Her body was there, but her mind and her heart were gone. It was like sitting with a robot. There was no life in her, no spark in her eyes. I've been to horror movies with zombies, and I have heard people saying they feel like a zombie, but today was the first day I have ever seen one in the flesh . . . _and it was my best friend_," she sobbed.

Yoshino felt Rei's arms slip around her shoulders from behind and she clasped the hands in front of her as they rested on her breast. She leaned her head into Rei's left arm as the tears began to flow quietly down her cheeks.

"I understand, Yoshino-chan," Youko said softly, truly understanding the younger girl's grief. "Rei, I am afraid that we are going to have to count heavily on you. You are Sachiko's best friend and we can't all run from her or she will simply turn back to the only ones she has left: her family. That is the one thing that we _cannot_ allow to happen. We have to keep her thinking that there is more to life than just her family and her infernal 'duty'. Frankly, the only member of her family that I believe we can trust is her mother, Sayako-obasama."

"You really think we can trust her," Sei asked with a look of doubt.

"Yes, I do," Youko replied with no reservations, "I have spoken to her in the past, and I know that she does not want Sachiko to have to go through the same kind of marriage she has had to endure. And I know that she absolutely adores Yumi-chan. I can't help but think that if only Yumi-chan had given Sachiko more time to gather her own courage . . . it might have still turned out the same, and we would then have even less time than we do now to set things right, but still . . ."

"Do you think we can do this, Youko-sama," Noriko asked as she took hold of Shimako's hand. Sei now stood next to Youko, trying to gain some measure of assurance from the dark haired girl.

"I don't know, Noriko-chan," Youko said with a sigh. "I have an idea, and it will take not only all of us, but others as well, and a lot of luck, but I would not have started down this road if I did not think that it was possible."

-oo-

The members of the Yamayurikai thought that it was actually a good sign that Sachiko made no move to replace Yumi as her petite soeur. Even though Touko Matsudaira, Sachiko's cousin, spent a small amount of time away from her drama club helping out at the Rose Mansion, it seemed that even she was pissed at Sachiko for what she had done to Yumi. Noriko assured everyone that even if Sachiko had asked her, Touko-san would have refused the offer of Sachiko's rosary. It turned out that the girl was more of a Yumi fan than a Sachiko fan. When she had first seen Yumi the previous year when she had snuck in to watch the Valentine's Day Treasure Hunt she had been prepared to hate the girl that her Sachiko-oneesama had taken as her petite soeur. Instead, she had been surprised at the honesty, innocence, and exuberance of the girl that was her Sachiko-oneesama's little sister. Her initial admiration had grown into full sisterly love over the following months. She too could not believe what Sachiko had done.

She, along with Noriko, Yoshino, Shimako, and Rei did their best to keep Yumi's spirits up and tried to get her to believe that all was not lost when it came to her love for Sachiko. In the meantime, those same girls let it be known to Sachiko that they did not agree with her decision regarding her arranged marriage to Suguru Kashiwagi-san. They did not threaten to withdraw their friendship, but they made their feelings clear.

While this was happening at school, Youko and Sei were working on the other end of the issue. Youko's belief in Sayako-obasama had proven to be right on the money and she had been more than willing to do whatever it took to bring her daughter and Yumi back together again.

"Of course I know that they are in love with each other! I'm not blind Youko-chan!" she exclaimed one afternoon over a cup of black tea and scones at a stylish restaurant in downtown Tokyo. "If it brings happiness to my Sachiko and that wonderful Yumi-chan, then who cares. You saw how she was the only one that could console Sachiko after her grandmother died. I knew then that those two needed to be together. When I heard what had happened I was absolutely furious, but I could not confront her about it. Touko-chan tells me that she is going around Lillian as if everything is fine, but I can tell you that at home, all she does is mope around and hide in her room looking at photos of Yumi."

"I am very glad to hear that Sayako-obasama," Youko said with a smile as she took a sip of her tea, "It means that there is still hope. If Sachiko had resigned herself to a life without Yumi-chan she would not still be pining away for her. So the wildcard is Suguru-san."

"Oh, he will not be an issue, Youko-chan," Sayako said with a knowing smile, "he has wanted to break off this engagement just as much as Sachiko has. It would put too much of a crimp in his 'lifestyle'. It is my understanding that there is a boy that he likes very much and, for some reason, this estrangement between Sachiko and Yumi has put a stain on their relationship. You would not happen to know anything about that would you Youko-chan?"

"Ah, well, Sayako-obasama, let's just say that your daughter is not the only one to determine the value of those in the Fukuzawa household," Youko chuckled. It did not surprise her that Yuuki-kun would take his sister's side of the dispute and that it would _greatly_ affect his feelings towards Suguru-san. Sayako simply smiled again that knowing smile of hers.

It seemed that Sei's job of speaking with Suguru-san was going to be a lot easier than everyone originally thought.

Now she just needed to find a way to force Sachiko to confront her father.

-oo-

A quiet knock came on the door to her bedroom. Sachiko lifted her head from the tear stained pillow she had been clutching to her breast and glared at the offending noise as if she could scare it off with just her sharp gaze. It had been a month since Yumi had returned her rosary. A month since her onee-sama, Youko, had taken that same rosary away from her. Not a day had gone by that she did not regret her words to Yumi. She had hated to say them at the time, but she had seen no way out of her obligations to her father and grandfather.

No, she had to be truthful with herself. She had not had the courage to stand up to them. Never in her wildest dreams did she believe that her inability to tell her family that she would not go through with the arranged marriage with Suguru Kashiwagi would have resulted in so much mayhem. Her cowardice had lost her not only her petite soeur, but her onee-sama as well. More importantly, it had cost her the love of the girl she loved more than anyone in the world. She was sure that Yumi detested her now. All she had left of her were a few pictures and her fading scent on the pillow held tightly in her arms. She refused to allow the maids to clean either it or the pillow sham.

Despite her fearsome gaze, the quiet knock came once again on her bedroom door.

"Ojou-sama, there is someone here to see you," she heard her maid say through the thickness of the dark mahogany door.

"I said that I did not wish to be disturbed," she replied in a cold voice.

"B-but, Ojou-sama."

"Excuse me, but I am coming in," Sachiko heard in a voice that she had thought to never hear again. The door opened to reveal her extremely concerned maid . . . and her ex-oneesama.

"How long are you going to simply mope around and wallow in your self-pity Sachiko," Youko said in her caring but stern voice as the frightened maid quietly closed the door behind her. It was the voice she used when she chided Sachiko for her stupidity, and she could not say that she did not deserve it, but . . .

"What are you doing her Youko-sama," she said as she quickly sat up and arranged her clothing into some semblance of acceptability and applied the appropriate mask. "If I remember correctly, you made it very clear that you would have nothing more to do with me."

"Come down off your high horse and rejoin the real world Sachiko," Youko replied in exasperation, "you never could fool me and you know it. And it seems that my previous actions have had the desired effect. Have you finally realized everything that you were giving up when you so callously rejected Yumi's love that day?"

Sachiko's shoulders slumped and she hung her head. Youko was right in that she had never been able to pull the "prim and proper princess" with her. Youko knew too much about her insecurities and her tendency to fall back on her upbringing and training when presented with a situation she was unsure of. It was only her training that had allowed her to get throught the days and meetings at school without breaking down. She knew she was coming off as uncaring, but it was the only way she knew how to deal with the loss. If she had been more open and honest about her feelings, and her fears, maybe she would never have lost Yumi in the first place.

"Yes, Youko-sama, I know," Sachiko sighed, "and if there was anything I could do to change the past, I would do it in a heartbeat. But Yumi must hate me now; especially now that she knows just how much of a coward I really am."

"Don't be any more of a fool than you already are Sachiko," Youko said, still using that stern but loving voice. "Of course Yumi still loves you. Do you think that she has been holding parties and going out on the town now that she is free of you? If anything she is more miserable than you are! Now, would you really do anything to get Yumi back? You can't turn back the hands of time, but you _can_ fix what you have broken."

"How! Just tell me how and I will do whatever you say, Youko-sama! Do you want me to stand up to my family? Fine! Do you want me to throw away the Ogasawara name and all that it stands for? Fine! Just tell me what to do and I will do it; whatever it takes so long as I can have Yumi in my life again!" she cried.

"Well, I don't think you have to go quite so far as to disown yourself," Youko smiled for the first time, "but you will have to stand up to your father and grandfather. Are you prepared to do that?"

"Just tell me when and where, Youko-sama," Sachiko said vehemently, once again showing her strength now that she saw the possibility of getting Yumi back.

"Then I think you might need this," Youko said as she reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out her rosary. "Will I regret putting this on you again, Sachiko?"

Sachiko smiled as she gazed once again at the piece of jewelry that she thought she had lost forever, "No, onee-sama. I promise you that you will never again regret it."

-oo-

"Where are you taking me Sei-sama?" Yumi complained loudly, holding on for dear life as Sei whipped her yellow bug around a corner going at least forty kph faster than the posted speed limit.

"You'll see, you'll see, Yumi-chan. It's-a-sur-prise," she smirked. Sei then reached down and pushed a button on her cell phone before closing it.

After a few moments, Yumi could see a long, high wall on the right of the road that looked familiar. "No, Sei-sama, you wouldn't! Stop the car and let me out this instant, Sei-sama," Yumi said in a cold voice.

"Too late, Yumi-chan," Sei giggled as she slammed on the breaks and threw the wheel to the right, ending up exactly perpendicular to the direction they had been traveling. She stomped on the gas before Yumi could think to open the car door and they were flying through the opening gates of the Ogasawara estate. She thought that preprogramming her phone to send a text message to have the gates opened was one of her better ideas. That way Yumi didn't have a chance to jump out of the car while they waited for the gates to be opened.

"Fine, Sei-sama, but good luck getting me out of this car," Yumi threatened the older girl, crossing her arms over her chest and looking out the side window.

"Look, Yumi-chan," Sei said seriously as she slowed and pulled into a parking space in front of the Ogasawara mansion, "right now, inside that house, Sachiko-chan is confronting her father regarding the arranged marriage between her and Suguru-san. She is demanding that the engagement be annulled and that she be set free to date and marry whomever she wants. And she wants you. No, I take that back, she _needs_ you! Right now, she needs you probably more than she has ever needed anyone in her life. I don't know if she will have the strength to go through with it if you are not there by her side, Yumi-chan."

"Sh-she's doing that? For me?" Yumi stammered.

"Isn't that what you wanted Yumi-chan?" Sei asked the stunned girl, "to have Sachiko stand up to the men in her family and demand that they break that stupid marriage agreement? Are you going to allow her to do this on her own, to possibly falter because you are not there by her side, giving her the courage and the strength to go on?"

"I . . . I'm not . . . "

"Of course you are, Yumi-chan. You are her strength. You are her courage. You are the one she loves and would do anything for. And right now she is trying to do it alone. Are you going to leave her like that?"

It took only a moment's thought before Yumi said, "Take me to her Sei-sama."

-oo-

Tooru Ogasawara looked at the four people standing across from where he sat behind the large desk in his study. Each of the four pairs of eyes held a determination that he was happy to see. Two sets of eyes held a touch of fear which he hated to see in those he loved, but there was nothing he could do about it . . . yet. One pair of eyes sparkled with expectancy. He knew he would hear about it later, but he also knew he had a specific role to play in this production and he would play it to the hilt.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this gathering, Sayako?" he asked his wife, a raise of his brow indicating his surprise.

Every eye turned toward his daughter, one of the two sets that held a hint of fear, but the determination seemed to be winning out . . . at least for now.

"Oto-sama, I have asked Okaa-sama, Youko-sama, and Suguru-san to join me today to formally request that you annul the engagement between Suguru-san and myself," Sachiko said with hardly a quaver to her voice.

"And why would I do that, Sachiko-chan?" he asked, steepling his hands on top of his desk.

"Because I do not love Suguru-san nor does he love me," she replied. "Because continuing this sham would destroy not just my life, but his life and the lives of the ones that we do love."

"You are in agreement with this request, Suguru-kun? I thought that you were in favor of the marriage arrangement," Tooru asked, turning toward his nephew.

"I am, Oji-sama," Suguru answered with a grin, even if there was a very slight hint of fear in his eyes. "The continuation of this engagement will have serious repercussions on my . . . lifestyle. It has already caused problems with some of my current . . . pursuits."

Ah, and here comes the late arrival, sneaking in quietly through the double doors of his office and standing back to listen to what was being said. _Not a bad move_, he thought.

"And what of the ones you say you love?" Tooru asked. "Who are these people? What are they to the Ogasawara's? Can they bring future business? Can they help to run our companies?"

"I-I cannot answer for Suguru-san," Sachiko said strongly, but with a hint of trepidation creeping into her voice, "but the one I love may not be able to bring business to the company, but she can certainly help me with the running of the companies."

"'_She_', Sachiko?" he jumped on her use of the word. "Am I to understand that the one you love is a _woman_? And how am I to countenance such a relationship? What of the honor of the Ogasawara's?"

"I-if you require it, I will r-renounce the Ogasawara name and you may throw me out into the street for all I care," Sachiko declared, gaining strength once again.

"And does this woman love you, Sachiko-chan?" he demanded, "does she love you so much that she would stand beside you once you no longer had the reputation, and the money, and the respect that goes along with the Ogasawara name?"

"I . . . I . . . " Sachiko stammered, now unsure of the footing upon which she stood.

"She does," came a resounding voice from the back of the room, "she cares nothing for the Ogasawara name, nor for its prestige, nor for its billions," Yumi stated clearly as she walked slowly up to join the group standing in front of him, all eyes turning towards her, Sachiko's especially surprised and shocked, not only at her sudden appearance, but at the words that she was hearing. "She cares only for the woman she loves," Yumi said in a softer voice as she reached Sachiko's side and took her trembling hand into her own. "Sachiko could be a penniless nobody, but still I would love her with all my heart and all my soul, Tooru-otosama" she said as she gazed into the sapphire blue eyes of the woman she loved, "for it is Sachiko I love. Not her name. Not her heritage, but the woman herself. I would do anything for her. If you force her out, I will take her in. If my parents force us out, which I have been assured that they will not, then I would still stay by her side, every day until the day we die. Does that answer your question Tooru-otosama?" she finished turning to look directly at him, meeting his eyes without an ounce of fear.

"It does Yumi-chan," he said with a spreading smile, "it surely does."

He stood up and walked from behind his desk and moved to stand before his daughter and the girl she loved. "I know most people think that I am so focused on my work that I have no idea what goes on in my own household. Well, 'most people' would be wrong. I have been waiting almost a year for this. I've seen how much Sachiko-chan has changed ever since she met you, Yumi-chan. I've seen the light in her eyes whenever she speaks of you, and I have seen the pain in those same eyes when things were not going well between you two. This past month has especially been hell for me to watch her suffer, but I knew that she had to do this on her own.

"And I am happy that she has such friends as will stand up for her and, yes, kick her in the ass when she needs it, Youko-chan," he chuckled, looking at his daughter's grande soeur as Youko blushed.

He put his hands on Sachiko's shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. Eyes that no longer showed the fear he had so hated to see. "But you needed to have the will, the courage, and determination, to stand up for yourself, Sachiko-chan. Society can be harsh, especially in this day and age, and you will have to maintain all that and more if you two are going to be happy.

"I know I am not the best father in the world, but making sure that my daughter is ready for the real world outside the idyllic confines of Lillian is the least of my jobs. Ensuring her happiness? I can think of nothing that would be more important to me. Certainly nothing as minor as mere business concerns."

Sachiko threw her arms around him and hugged him, crying in her joy as Yumi stood there with a big smile on her face. He put his arm around her and pulled her into his embrace as well and smiled down at her. "Welcome to the family, Yumi-chan."

"Thank you, Tooru-otosama," Yumi replied, "thank you."

-oo-

Three girls stood before the stone statue of Maria-sama the following Monday morning. None of them cared about the girls in the dark green school uniforms that passed by them, stopping briefly to offer up their prayers to the Madonna before they continued on to their classrooms. Most gave the three girls surprised looks. Many hung back or stood off to the side, out of the way of traffic, so that they could watch what was about to transpire.

"Yumi," Sachiko asked in a quiet, shy voice, "I know that I do not deserve your love or your forgiveness, but I wish to be selfish once again. Would you, please, consent to becoming my petite soeur? I promise that, one day, I will replace this rosary with a ring for your left hand, but until that day, would you agree to be mine once again?"

"Yes, Sachiko," Yumi replied, a soft and loving smile on her clear and honest face, "I would like that very much."

Youko looked on as her petite soeur placed the rosary around Yumi's neck. The two then, to the utter shock of everyone watching, embraced and shared a quick, chaste kiss before they separated again and turned to walk, hand-in-hand, to the Rose Mansion where their friends were awaiting them. Youko could see the wheels spinning in every face around her as she walked behind her petite soeurs. She could just imagine the new tradition to be added to the old soeur ceremony. How many new soeur relationships would be sealed, not just with the exchange of a rosary, but with a kiss as well? She laughed silently to herself just thinking of what Sei's reaction would be when she told her.

* * *

And there it is folks, an ending that I could control. Hopefully it was not too trite. At least it made me feel better to finish the story this way rather than leaving it the way it was at the end of Chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed it.

As always, please feel free to send a comment. I always enjoy hearing what you have to say.

And may you all live happily ever after!


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